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Tuesday, September 06, 2016

Minister of Agriculture warns of imminent food crisis

Minister
of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, has warned of an imminent food crisis following the
possible invasion of quelea birds, locusts and grasshoppers from neighboring
Niger Republic into the country.

Ogbeh gave the warning during an emergency
meeting with state commissioners of Agriculture in 12 states in Abuja.

According to the Minister, the
invasion of army worm from neighboring countries into some farmlands in Nigeria
have resulted in large scale losses of grains, a situation that has led to the
increase in the price of maize to N15,000 a bag.

Commissioners of Agriculture in Kebbi, Zamfara,
Sokoto and Jigawa states who spoke at the meeting, confirmed the presence of
quelea birds in about six -seven local governments areas in their states. Ogbeh
said Nigeria is already facing maize crisis, adding that if the birds are added
to the crisis, the country would be in turmoil.

“There is warning that
we have received that locusts and quelea birds are massing up in Niger Republic
from where they normally attack us in Nigeria. We know how dangerous quelea
birds can be and locusts. If they arrive within hours and days, they would have
wiped out everything the farmers would have put in the field. We already have
maize crisis. We may have food problems if we are attacked. This country would
be in turmoil. We can’t afford that. The army warm is another problem. We
already have severe shortages of maize. You know the price rose to N15,000 as a
result of that. Most of the poultry farms are in trouble and many families are
hungry. We have got to start working together like this to deal with these
things as soon as there is any sign of them. We must have an emergency team
between you and ourselves to tackle these issues very swiftly. Now we know they
will come. We have to design a strategy where chemicals are available in all
the states and contingency steps can be taken quickly.”he said